GM to reorganize, form China venture

A management shuffle at General Motors Co. is expected to happen by Aug. 15, revealed Nick Reilly, GM's new international chief, adding that he also expects the formation of a Chinese joint venture to be completed by the end of the year.

About 250 people will be rearranged into new posts. The venture with China FAW Group Corp. should be done in 2009, aimed at increasing revenue from GM's operations overseas by 12 percent in 2010, according to Reilly, who began to serve as the executive vice president of international operations when GM announced bankruptcy on July 10. The company also said Monday that 6,000 hourly workers took buyouts and retirement offers to leave.

These changes were aimed to enhance GM's central decision-making authority, and the future success of this commercial-vehicle company's future highly depends on its international operations, an analyst with CSM Worldwide in Michigan.

International markets have contributed about 49 percent to GM's revenue in 2008, and the figure is projected to resume growth.

Agencies and Wang Lei contributed to this story